This year marks our 10th Mobile Market season of providing free, fresh produce to our friends and neighbors in Greater New Bedford. Mobile Markets would not be possible without our partnership with Sharing the Harvest Community Farm, a program of YMCA Dartmouth. Each year, we serve thousands of families, providing them with the quality produce grown right in our area. Mobile Market was established to provide healthy food options to working residents that are unable to visit a food pantry during the day due to their work schedules.
For so many families the cost of living has been an impact, and unfortunately the less healthy food options are also often the less expensive options, causing families to make tough decisions between eating healthy and paying their bills. Mobile Market removes the cost barrier and encourages residents to not only eat healthier, but also to try new things. Sharing the Harvest routinely grows new items that are not familiar to most. Have you tried kohlrabi? Do you know how to cook fennel? What makes a pattypan squash different – does it need to be prepared differently? With these unfamiliar foods come a lot of questions and in anticipation we keep recipe cards on hand to distribute with these items.
Mobile Markets also provide residents an opportunity to give back by volunteering their time to distribute food. Each week 10 volunteers spend their evenings with our team engaging with residents receiving food and even sharing some of their own recipes!
Mobile Market season runs from July to October – rain or shine! It is rare we cancel a market, only extreme weather forces us to close. It’s hard to believe we are already halfway through our season! So far this year, we have provided nearly 10,000 pounds of produce to over 700 households in Greater New Bedford and volunteers have served over 200 hours with us.
In addition to providing food, we have partnered with other community organizations and programs to provide additional resources. Southcoast Health’s Community Wellness Program is on site regularly, distributing information on healthy eating, diabetes, and more. A Stroke Awareness Day has been scheduled with the SCH team for October 1st (this was rescheduled from August due to rain). We also partner with Walt’s Mobile Closet to give residents the opportunity to “shop” for free clothing. They have been on site several times this season and will be returning a number of times in the next few weeks.
We are proud of our Mobile Markets and the community it has built over the years. We are thankful to our many volunteers for all of their hard work and for the dedicated Sharing the Harvest volunteers who work tirelessly throughout the growing season. And we are extremely thankful to our sponsors BankFive & Southcoast Health who have always supported our work at United Way.
Mobile Markets are on Tuesdays in Wareham and Thursdays in New Bedford. For a schedule and to register, visit unitedwayofgnb.org/mobile-market.